Corsica Hikes

Time for some much needed updates. We had many adventures and many relaxing days in Corsica, France. One of my favorite parts was the hikes we took.

Hike 1:
We took a 2 hour windy drive up the mountains of Corsica today. I have never before been carsick, but almost every time we went driving in Corsica my stomach plunged. This was due to a combination of: narrow roads, windy roads, roads on cliffs, hilly roads, manual cars, fast speed limits, and large cars. I learned to play music and look out the front windshield. This experience has mad me much more empathetic towards people prone to carsickness. When we reached our destination the view was indescribable. Mountains hid behind layers of clouds and fog. The mountains were tan rocks mostly covered in trees. Not quite like the scenery at home, almost matching that of Chile, almost in a tropical way, very hard to describe. Sadly enough I did not bring my phone that day so I have no pictures. We hiked for what I guess would be 3 miles in. There were two main 'pacs' the older kids practically jogged in the front, while the younger dragged in the back. The adults were strewn in between. As you could imagine this created quite the time difference between the leaders and finishers. The first part of the hike was mostly flat but near the end we reached a 20 minute section where we practically had to climb up the rocky hill. At the top you could see the whole stretch we had hikes and even down to the sea! This is where we had lunch, and than hiked the 3 miles back. Near the end we raced the rain trying to make it to the cars dry. Sadly my host mom twisted her ankle and hurt her foot on the way down. Never fun on a vacation!!! On the drive home we stopped at a restaurant and had... french crêpes (pronounced crehp not kur-ape). It was a good end to our hike.

Hike 2:
After yet another long drive we arrived at yet another beautiful spot in the mountains. This time I had my phone with means I have pictures! These mountains were more gray than tan, and the hike was next to a river. On the way in we walked next to the river and Florian (my host brother), Noah (another kid on vacation with us), Shelu (Noah's dad, I feel really bad because I don't know how to spell his name)(new edit: shelu is how to pronounce his name however I have been informed that the correct spelling is Gilu because it is french. I apologize for my horrible spelling skills) and I hiked next to, in, and around the river for a while before meeting up with everyone else on the path again. A little while later we once again ventured off but this time only Florian and I continued because the rock was quite steep and probably not very safe upon second thought. We climbed over logs that had fallen over the river and through bushes until we once again met up with everyone else. After this we hiked for probably an hour or so more (getting lost once or twice) until we had a view of a *insert wonderful word here* waterfall. We, not unlike the other hike, enjoyed lunch in our scenic oasis, climbed a bolder for a while, and then meandered back. On the way back to the car Noah, Florian, Philippe (my host father), and I once again went off the beaten path to adventure a little on the way home.

Hike 3:
The third hike began after, guess what, another wide car drive. I am beginning to  love the mechanics behind maneuvering cars around this narrow, curving, roads. I am amazed that more people do not crash given that you drive in the middle of the road until someone comes around the corner, and than practically fall off the edge to pass them. It takes a lot of skill. This time we did not go to the mountains, yet to Bonofacio (also spelled incorrectly). This is an old french city located atop the golden-white cliffs Corsica is famous for. We hiked on a rocky path on top of the cliffs with the perfect view of both the city and sea. We hiked for probably 1.5 hours (I am really bad at keeping track of time, just assume all my guesses have a margin of error of 1 hour) until we reached a broken down, graffitied place (building? plaza? I'm not sure). We once again had lunch with the most spectacular views.

Hike 4:
The last of our hikes was very short, only about a half hour (given my margin of error this hike could have actually taken any where between negative .5 hours to 1.5 hours). We hiked from a beach to a tower. On the way there a black lab followed us. The kids named him Charlie. Once we reached the tower we took family photos for about 10 minutes in which Charlie disappeared. As we walked down we found him waiting for us in the shade. After our hike we spent a while at the beach with Charlie at our sides. I believe he was the official beach dog considering he seemed to tag along with almost anyone at the beach. It was quite funny.